uh oh

I'm sure most of us have heard the quote "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

Today I had a little wake up call, regarding this very thing! Hubs and I spent this morning drawing up a rough plan about our impending move - what we wanted to sort through, toss, keep, donate to charity, put onto Ebay etc. We then split up and started our various tasks - his to sort out the china cabinet and mine to start sorting out the books in the bookcase. Now as many of you know I love to read and often I like to read so much that I can purchase a book and forget all about it - I've usually got so much on the go. Therein lies my biggest issue - time management and organization. I've obviously tried to address it many times over the years because I managed to pull out (hangs head in shame), FIVE books on organizing your life/house etc and a book on PROCRASTINATION. I can just see Shelley pulling this one up on her reader and pissing her pants. Hubs and I spent the better part of the afternoon laughing about it, but deep down I was somewhat embarrassed. Anyway I have removed a ton of books ready to be donated to charity, Ebayed etc. If anyone wants a good book on time management for small dollars, get in touch NOW! New Year's Resolution is to employ a bit more discipline in getting tasks done, particularly if they're unpleasant!

Still no training to speak of - had another big sleep in today (I've been doing a few 11 and 12 hour sleeps) but I'm finally beginning to feel like I want to do something. I'm thinking of a bit of running and stretching tomorrow. We're all settling back into a more normal eating pattern which is nice after four days of "fend for yourself" - enjoyed grilled salmon, potatoes and a big bunch of greens for dinner tonight and I feel satisfied and content.

Important vs Not So Important

I'm sure that I've blogged about this before, but a weakness I possess is a definite lack of organization - luckily for me this week's Bootcamp assignment was all about time management and prioritization - what's the most important thing? Dave spoke about making yourself number one priority (ie if you make yourself number one, then you're freer to give to others, especially the most important people in your life eg life partner, children etc). I've been treating life like an octopus in a string bag (no doubt, any mother would have heard about this in relation to kids) - I think I have something sorted and then, bang, out pops a tentacle!

I've definitely been guilty of spending too much time on the internet, Facebook etc and I've spoken to others about how "reading blogs does one's head in". I'm going to quote Elizabeth Waterstraat, who is a triathlon coach in the US who wrote almost word for word, what I think about reading too many blogs. Must make mention here that it is all to do with the perspective you read them from - if you're feeling vulnerable or fragile, sometimes reading about how fantastic life is for everyone else can be downright depressing. I also wish to mention that if things are going swimmingly for any of you that are reading this, then I am genuinely pleased for you - really I am - but I need to work on time management and prioritization. I enjoyed this in the context of "Important vs Not So Important" very much:

"getting caught up in comparing themselves to everyone else out there who always seems to be having a much better go of things, doing everything faster, better, stronger....

Isn't that always the case?

Reader Beware: You can get caught up in the web of blogs, Facebook and twitting. Everybody is
always nailing their workout, going 2 minutes per mile faster than us and doing it all on nothing but a saltine. Awesome! Sign me up for that training plan. Makes the rest of us feel like complete slugs as we slog away at 12mph in our basement while keeping up with the Kardashian's.

Nothing so awesome about that.

But that's just the way a lot of that stuff reads. Everyone is doing more than us, doing it more often, doing it faster, doing it better, doing it sexier than anyone else. I look at Facebook and even I feel like a slug. 20 x 2 minutes at FTP? Jeez! If you want to scare me fill a paper bag with air and pop it in front of my face. No need to include the letters FTP in that. I'm trashed, I'm killing myself, I'm blah blah...what it all really boils down to in our heads is:

I'm better than you. Even though that's not what they're saying. But I bet that's how it makes some people feel.

" In life we are limited by two things: time and energy. Spend both wisely. And only read, affiliate with or engage in things that keep you moving in a forward direction. Know that you don't have to turn your head. You can keep your eyes forward, look at the road ahead, know where you are going and focus intently on the task of getting there.

I like blogs, I like blogland and keeping a blog has been a positive experience for me. But sometimes it is good to step away and fill your head with something else. Read your own story. Write your own ending. Be that girl. And get obsessed with yourself.

You can read the full post here

Inadvertently, I've found myself swimming sideways. It's not actual content of blog per se, it is the amount of time that I've frittered away reading blogs when I could have been moving forward onto other stuff, which is the scary part.

I've made a start to reorganizing my blog - I've been inspired by Lia and may even try Wordpress. I've deleted all the dead links from my blogs - bloggers who have removed their blogs or haven't posted in over six months and tried to get rid of stuff that is just cluttering everything up.

In the spirit of making it all about me, I've done some good training in these past two days - Upper Body yesterday (and yes, I'm in a world of DOMS today) and Legs today - just three exercises - squats, RDLs and pull throughs were quite enough for me today - didn't lift particularly heavy weights, but am really feeling it tonight. I have three RPM classes to teach tomorrow, so I've factored that into my nutrition for tomorrow - yes, spending more time with myself means focusing more on nutrition. The mechanical part of Bootcamp is going surprisingly well (down to low 58s now and dropping - it's definitely a different body shape that is presenting itself in this phase of action. Someone at the gym told me I looked "rangy". A case to do more resistance training if there was one! I have some old photos from last Bootcamp, so am going to try and put some progress shots side by side and maybe post them, if I'm feeling brave!

Will leave tonight with another cracker of a quote from fellow bodybuilder and LL Coach, Mary Leach:

"The past and future live only in our mind, and we hold no power with those. The immense power that we have to change our lives, to chart our course to success, will always exist only in THIS moment, THIS decision to act in a way that brings us closer to what we desire."

Lizzy Trickett - Gold in my own right!

Tomorrow sees me doing the Sunday morning RPM launch at Toowong. We have to dress as our favourite Olympic Athlete so I am morphing into "Lizzy, not Libby, Trickett" for the morning complete with goggles, gold medal and megawatt smile. I can't wait as I haven't trained since Wednesday. My cough is still giving me what for though and I cannot believe how much you use your belly when you hack away - so I have been going to bed with a swelly belly...ugh

I've got a pretty busy week ahead of me. I have to fit in all the clients that I missed out on last week and prep all the vegetables I bought today. I am firmly sticking the paddle in this week and have even blocked off time every day this week for my own workouts. When I think of my goals, I know that to be successful that I need to prioritize them. I haven't had any long term goals in mind due to the surgery and the shoulder injury (which reminds me that I need to book a visit to the physio this week) - I do know that I want to start swimming again (I haven't done this in ages and I think I'd enjoy the change) and decide what my "going into retirement" figure competition will be! I would love to do an ANB show as the 2007 show was the most fun I've ever had at a bodybuilding show. I'm also developing a yearning to finally buy another road bike and have a more serious crack at some cycling or triathlons. Decisions, decisions!

In other news I have also committed to doing some work with a Lifestyle Coach to help me manage my time issues/training/goal setting etc etc. I have the habit of letting myself get seriously out of kilter (as Shelley well knows - I have this nasty habit of unpacking my entire Fitness First bag and repacking it to find my car keys, phone, lunch you name it), and I am biting the bullet and enlisting in a bit of help to tame my wayward ways. It is expensive, but you know you've made the right decision when you wake up feeling relieved, rather than "crap, that's too much money!" I may not be blogging or replying to comments as much as I learn to be better but know that I am with you all in spirit

Horizontal Dominance overtake me!

Yes, that's right - I'm looking forward to some hard earned sleep after giving my RPM class a thrashing and doing some Horizontal Dominance Strength training! It's been a day of program writing and admin - I still have to load up the Spinervals stock and the Ladybird - I told my class this morning what a complete dork I am - I borrowed a book on "Time Management" from the library and didn't even look at it until the day it was due. Of course, I had to go and renew it. Who can guess how many times I have looked at it since?